Lyon County times. [volume] (Silver City, Nev.) 1874-1907, 1887-08-20


ON the doorstep mending something, and
looking at her favorite view.
Because l want to speak to you"
She got up and went, feeling rather angry
with herself for going.
"Well," she said, tartly, "here | am. What
is it?"
81 have finished packing the cart, that's
ALL"
"And you mean to tell me that you have
brought me round here to say thatF'
Eyes, of course have; exercise is good for
the young" And then he laughed, and she
laughed too.
IL was all nothing--nothing at all-but
somehow 1t was very delightful Certainly
mutual affection, even when unexpressed,
has way of making things go happily, and
can find something to laugh at anywhere.
Just then, who should come up but Mrs.
Neville, i'm great state of excitement, and,
as usual, tanning herself with her hat.
"What do you think, Capt Mel! the
prisoners have come in, and l heard one of
the Beers in charge say that he had pass
signed by the Boer general for some English
people, and that he was coming over to see
about them presently. Who can it bef'
''It is u.s. said jess, quickly. 1--WE are
going home l saw Hans Coetzee yesterday,
and begged him to try and get us pass, and
l suppose he has"
"My word! going to get out! Well, you
are lucky! Let me sit down and write a let
ter to my great uncle at the Cape. You must
post it when you cali. He is "a and rather
SOFT but dare say he will like to hear from
me-" and she bundled off into the house to
give her aged relative twho, by the way,
labored under the impression that she was
49, ,,af,,, 10
an account of the siege of Pretoria as time
would allow
"Well John, you had better tell Mouti to
put the horses in. We shall have to start
presently" said jess.
say" he said, pulling his beard thought
fully, II suppose that we SHALL" adding, by
way of an afterthought: "Are you glad to
goa"
"No!" she said with a sudden flash of pas
sion and a stamp of the foot, and then turned
and entered the house again.
"Mouti," said John to the Zulu, who was
lounging around in way characteristic OF
that intelligent but unindustrious race, Sin
span the horses. We are going back to Mooi-
fontein."
"Koos" Chief, said the Zulu unconcernedly,
and started on the errand as though it were
tuo uiOSG every udy oCCuIItnCe w uitNo oh
home out OF closely beleaguered town. That
is another beauty of the Zulu race; you can
not astonish them. They, no doubt, consider
that that, to them, extraordinary mixture OF
wisdom and insanity, the white man, is, as
the agnostic French critic said in despair of
the prophet Zerubbabel, capable de tout"
John stood and watched the inspanning
absently. The fact was that he, too, was con-
scious of sensation of regret. He felt
ashamed of himself for it, but there it was;
he was sorry to leave the place. For the last
week or so he had been living in dream, and
everything outside that dream was blurred
and indistinct as a landscape in fog He
knew the things were there but he did not
quite appreciate their relative size and posi-
tion. The only real thing was his dream; all
else was as vague as those far off people and
events that we lose in infancy and find again
in old age.
And now fhere would be an end of dream
ing; the fog would lift, and he must face the
facts. jess, with whom he had dreamed,
would go away to Europe and he would
marry Bessie, and all this Pretoria business
would glide away into the past like watch
in the night. Well, it must be SO; it was
right and proper that it should be SO, and he
for one was not going to finch from his duty;
but he would have been more than human
had he not felt the pang of awakening. 1t
was all so very unfortunate.
By this time Mouti had got the horses up,
and asked if he was to inspan.
"No wait bit, said John. every likely
it is all rot" he added to himself.
Scarcely were the words out of his mouth
when he caught sight of two armed Beers of
a peculiarly unpleasant type and rough ap
pearance riding across the veldt toward
"The Palatial" gate, escorted by four car
h leers. At the gate they stopped, and one
of them dismounted and came up to where he
was standing by the stable door.
"Capt. Niel!" he said interrogatively in
English.
"That is my name"
"Then here is a letter for you," and he
handed him a folded paper.
John opened tit had no envelope-and
read as follows:
"SIR-The bearer of this has with him
pass, which it is understood that you desire,
giving you and Miss jess Croft a safe conduct
to Mooifontein, in the Wakkerstroom district
of the republic. The only condition attached
to the pass, which is signed by one of the hon
orable triumvirate, is that you must carry no
dispatches out of Pretoria Upon your giving
your word of honor to the bearer that you
will not do this he will hand you the pass"
This letter, which was fairly written and
in good English, had no signature.
"Who wrote ths9" asked John of the Boer
"That is no affair of yours" was the curt
reply. "Will you pass your word about the
dispatchesp
Eyes"
"Good. Here is the pass" and he handed
over that document to John. 1t was in the
same handwriting as the letter, but signed by
the Boer general.
John examined it and then called to Jess TO
come and translate it. She was on her way
round the corner of the house as he did So
having heard the voice of the Boer.
at means, Pass the bearers unharmed,'"
she said "and the signature is correct. l have
seen the generals signature before"
"When must we startW asked John.
at once, OF not at all"
II must drive round by the headquarter
camp to explain about my going. They will
think that l have run away"
To this the Boer demurred, but finally